Creative Problem Solving

Many times I end up not being prepared. A project was on the calendar that I was assigned to at the last minute. We were planning on filling cookie cutters with jolly ranchers and popping them in the oven. I read the directions out loud to a group of ladies who could not always think clearly, but had much life experience in the kitchen. I explained my lack of experience and started asking them what would work best. “Do you think we need waxed paper or Pam spray? Would foil work better? How many pieces of hard candy do you think it would take?” We muddled through it together as suggestions were made. We had failure and success. We had an end product, but in the end, along with laughter, we had more than that. We bonded together in the process of discerning the best courses of action.